After four semesters, I have completed all the requirements the History BA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (The Good One.) At this point, I could take classes in yoga, poultry science, and philology, and still graduate in time. Having effectively completed the history major, although I will take more classes, I would like to reflect on my experiences, especially on the young, impressionable youths going to college soon. I am not finished with college. True, but I have learned some things.
- Everything you learned in high school is wrong
That's right! Most people I know that study history independently seem only to be interested in learning about wars or American political history in general. Studying history academically, you will swiftly learn that history is not a grand narrative of white people dominating over other white people, but something much more complex. Your high school wasn't completely wrong, but they were forced to over-simplify and give an America-centric viewpoint.
- History isn't teleological (You can't predict the future)
To quote the Bard, "The past is prologue." Despite what your crackpot radio pundit/uneducated economic theorist that advotes buying gold tells you, history does not work in any determinable cycles or theoretical pattern. I consider History a social science as well as a humanitarian study, but we don't make models the way sociologists do. The future is unpredictable, but it will come...that's the fun of it.
- You will learn a foreign language
Stop lying to yourself, English will not carry you your whole life. American History is full of immigrants that spoke and wrote in other languages. English History is full of Latin, french, and Old/Middle English. Beowulf is hard.
- Reality is not the same as facts
Indiana Jones says in The Last Crusade that Archeology is the search for facts, not truth. What the adventurer/professor meant is that archeology uses empirical methodology instead of analytical and critical techniques found in historical analysis. In other words, antropologists are more or less trying to find out what exactly happened, irrefutable facts, while historians are all about understanding the nuances, human experience, and present-day implications for past events. Antropologists could look at you and say that your body is proportioned in such a way to draw interest from potential mates to continue the gene pool, and your cultural artifacts signify your wealth as capability to support a family. A historian would say you are hot and paid, rico sauva.
- History encompasses literature, cultural anthropology, philosophy, and foreign language studies
You are going to learn about a whole bunch of different subjects and topics to
- You are going to learn about religions that aren't yours; get used to it
- Don't major in history
A good deal of people that graduate in History that A. failed to get into the business school, B. failed to get into the education school, or C. failed to get into some other school on your college. These people tend to begrudgingly complete the requirements. These people tend to do one of three things upon graduating 1. go to law school, 2. get a teaching certificate from a tech school, 3. go to grad school for a PhD. I have some problems with these three options, but mostly because so many history majors do these things because they are scared of trying to enter the work directly.
1. Law school just might be one of the worst decisions you could possibly make. There simply isn't a huge demand for lawyers, but 45,000 new JDs are awarded each year. A law degree will most likely not help you at getting a job outside of law, and if anything make you look overqualified. And law school will cost 80,000+ dollars and don't count on any scholarships. If your life ambition is to be a lawyer, you need to go to a T-14 law school. If you get a degree from one of these, you will have the credibility to practice anywhere in the United States, otherwise you will be limited to the geographic location of your podunk third-tier law school. Lastly, the median salary of lawyers has declined much given the lack of demand, only the absolute top will be making bank.
2. It has been said the United States needs better teachers. This is probably true, especially since math and science teachers are scarce given how they could make so much more money in the private sector. As for History and English, I am fairly confident that there is an oversupply of these. Interestingly enough, majoring in straight History or English literature actually has a higher median income than education. I realize that money isn't everything, but if you are trying to get into teaching because you think that it'll be an easy, recession-proof job, you will be shown otherwise very easily.
3. Grad school will take 5-10 years, a massive opprotunity cost, and extremely little job security. Professors in the Humanities are rarely tenured these days, so abandon this idea that you will easily gain a comfortable job at some bucolic university setting.
- Major in history
History is great! After all, I major in it. History is a holistic learning practice that combines social sciences and humanities to give a completely different view of the world. History can make you a better, more self-actualized person, and at the very least a better-read and more skilled writer. You CAN GET A JOB that don't involve teaching with a history degree, the important point is not to blindly stumble into the History major, but to accumulate skills like quality of writing, research, analysis, computer skills, foreign language acquisition, and yes, even math ability. History is for the brave who can use the totality of their intelligence. Open minds only.
